Men's Hoops Looks To Start Ivy Win Streak When It Visits Brown

STREAKS, STORYLINES & SIDEBARS 
• The Cornell basketball team will hit the road for its first full Ivy League road weekend beginning with a trip to Brown on Friday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. at the Pizzitola Sports Center. 
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Nick Coit and Adam Giardino on the call. 
• Cornell is looking for its first road victory in nearly a year (Feb. 9, 2019 at Harvard) when it plays at the Pizz, where the Big Red has gone 12-4 since 2004. 
• It’s been a new year, new Big Red since the turning of the calendar, as Cornell is now 3-1 in 2020. 
• Cornell is coming off a 62-50 home win over Columbia on Jan. 25, limiting the Lions to .317 shooting in salvaging a season split between the teams. 
• Jimmy Boeheim, the Ivy League’s third-leading scorer, had 18 points and 10 rebounds in the win and is now averaging 18.6 ppg. 
• Cornell’s 4-11 overall start is a little deceiving, as it has lost five games by four points or less. 
• The Big Red is 14-13 over its last 27 Ivy contests and earned a spot in the 2019 CIT tournament, its first postseason appearance since its 2010 NCAA Sweet 16 run. 
• Cornell joins Harvard, Yale and Penn in finishing in the top four in each of the last two seasons.

ABOUT BROWN
• Brown brings a 7-8 overall record (0-2 Ivy) into the contest after dropping a 73-62 decision at home to Ivy leader Yale on Jan. 24. 
• The Bears opened the season 4-1 and own wins over Rhode Island and Merrimack. 
• Guard Brandon Anderson, a 1,000-point scorer for his career, ranks among the Ivy scoring leaders at  19.1 ppg. to go along with 3.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.8 steals. 
• All-Ivy forward Tamenang Choh has added 13.2 ppg., 8.3 rpg. and 3.3 apg. in 15 starts. 
• Zach Hunsaker (9.9 ppg., 3.7 rpg., 1.3 spg.) and Joshua Howard (6.9 ppg., 4.3 rpg.) are also among the team’s leading scorers. 
• Brown head coach Mike Martin, one of the Bears’ top players on their 2003 NIT team, was named Ivy Coach of the Year last season, guiding the team to its first-ever 20-win season and a berth in the CBI.   

THE SERIES 
Overall: Cornell leads 80-53 
In Providence, R.I.: Series tied 33-33 
Current Streak: Brown, 1 game 
Last Meeting: Brown won 75-51, 3/2/19 in Providence, R.I. 
Earl vs. Brown: 4-2 
Series Notes: Cornell holds an 80-53 lead in a series that dates back to the 1949-50 campaign • Cornell has had the best of the series recently, having won 22 of the last 30 meetings • the Bears ended Cornell’s 13-game win streak in the series in March 2013 and the series is nearly split right down the middle since (Brown leads 7-6) 

A WIN OVER BROWN WOULD ... 
• make the Big Red’s record stand at 5-11 on the season, including 2-1 in Ivy play. 
• give Cornell a 4-1 record in 2020. 
• improve Cornell to 15-13 record in its last 28 Ivy regular season contests. 
• extend the Big Red’s lead in the all-time series to 81-53. 
• snap a 14-game road skid dating back to last year. 
• be the 1,274th in program history (1,273-1,451 in 119 seasons, .467).

MORGAN JOINS THE RAPTORS 
• Senior Matt Morgan ‘19 signed a contract with defending NBA Champion Toronto Raptors on Oct. 17. 
• He has been assigned to the Raptors 905 of the NBA G League. 
• Cornell’s all-time leading scorer who ranks No. 2 in Ivy League history, Morgan graduated with career records for points scored (2,333), scoring average (20.5 ppg.), field goals made (743), field goals attempted (1,580) and free throws made (513), season records for points scored (687 in 2018-19) and 3-pointers made per game (3.32 in 2018-19), and game records for 3-pointers in a game (9, twice).  
• In addition, he ranks in the top 10 in career 3-pointers made (second, 334), games started (second, 112), minutes played (third, 3,705), games played (third, 113), free-throw percentage (fourth, .834) and assists (eighth, 296) and just outside the top 10 in steals (12th, 126). 
• Morgan is attempting to become the first Cornellian to play in the NBA since Jeff Foote ‘10 for the New Orleans Hornets in March 2012.  
• In his first game with the 905 on Nov. 10, Morgan had 11 points (4-of-10 shooting, 2-of-7 from 3-point range) to go along with six assists, three rebounds, a block and a steal in 29 minutes during a 109-94 loss to the Grand Rapids Drive. 
• He is averaging 7.9 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 0.8 steals per game in 26 contests. 

LAST TIME OUT: Cornell 62, Columbia 50
GAME STORY I BOX SCORE I HIGHLIGHTS I GALLERY I BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• Cornell shot 56 percent after halftime and put on a defensive clinic to split the season series with Columbia, dropping the Lions 62-50 in the Ivy League home opener for the Big Red at Newman Arena.  
• The Big Red overcame a 24-22 halftime deficit with an efficient offense and a dominant defense.  
• After a first half that featured 10 Big Red turnovers and 39 percent shooting overall, Cornell assisted on nine baskets with just one miscue and shot better than 50 percent, including hitting 6-of-12 shots from beyond the arc, to run away with the win.  
• Junior Jimmy Boeheim scored 18 points, 13 in the decisive second half, and added 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season to lead four double figure scorers.  
• Fellow co-captain Terrance McBride scored 13 points with a career-best eight rebounds and senior tri-captain Josh Warren had 11 points, six rebounds and four assists in the win.  
• Bryan Knapp scored 10 points with five rebounds and two blocked shots, hounding Columbia’s Mike Smith, the conference’s leading scorer, all afternoon.  
• Smith was held to 5-of-23 shooting for 15 points that included a 3-of-14 second half. 
Randy Brumant had seven points and a game-high 11 rebounds and Tai Bibbs scored eight.  
• After hitting 7-of-16 shots from beyond the arc in last weekend’s 75-61 win in New York City, the Lions made just 5-of-23 shots from deep.

NOTES TO KNOW
• Over the last three seasons, Cornell is 20-10 at home (.667). 
• Cornell was 6-0 last season and 15-3 in four years under head coach Brian Earl when holding opponents under 40 percent shooting and were 10-2 in 2018-19 and 34-13 overall when outshooting its foe. 
• Cornell has hit a 3-pointer in 875 consecutive games (12th-longest streak in Division I) dating back to a contest against Denison in the 1988-89 season opener (0-for-2). Since the 3-point shot came into effect in NCAA play during the 1986-87 season, the Big Red has hit at least one shot behind the arc in 921 of 925 games (6,023 3-pointers over that span). 
• The November 5 date vs. Binghamton was the earliest start to a Cornell men’s basketball season in the school’s 121 seasons. 
• Cornell had 20 assists and just six turnovers in the win over Binghamton, just the 13th time since 1976 that Cornell had 20 or more assists and single-digit turnovers in a game. 
• Cornell dropped consecutive one-point games to Bryant (82-81) and NJIT (59-58), the first time since December 1942 when the Big Red dropped games on the road to Rochester (36-35) and Seton Hall (29-28) on December 19-21. 
• The Big Red played just seven players against Hartford on Dec. 22, the fewest in a game by a Cornell team since prior to 2000. 
• Cornell had just three turnovers against Lafayette, matching a Cornell record for fewest in a single game (SMU on Dec. 30, 1980 and Penn on March 5, 1983) and establishing a Newman Arena mark. 
• The Big Red’s 54 rebounds vs. Coppin State were the most in a single game since grabbing 56 against Clarkson in 2010 and the highest total against a Division I opponent since hauling in 59 in a 69-45 triumph over Dartmouth on Feb. 20, 2004, while the squad’s 26 offensive rebounds are tied for the second-most in a single game in school history behind only 31 against Hobart on Dec. 11, 1994. 

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 
• This year marks the 10th anniversary of Cornell’s 2009-10 NCAA Sweet 16 team with a reunion planned the weekend of February 7-8. 
• The 1987-88 squad that won an Ivy title will also return to campus that weekend to be honored for their achievements. 
• Brian Earl and his brother Dan (VMI) one of four active sets of brothers directing Division I programs, joining Bobby (Arizona State) and Danny (Connecticut) Hurley; Joe (Boston University) and James (Yale) Jones; and Sean (Arizona) and Archie (Indiana) Miller. 
• Seventh-year assistant coach Jon Jaques was a starter and senior captain on the 2009-10 Cornell team that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16. 
• Cornell has played in 47 different states, as well as in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Australia, France and Spain. The only states the Big Red has not played in are Alaska, North Dakota and Mississippi. 
• Junior Jimmy Boeheim is the oldest son of Syracuse head men’s basketball coach and Naismith Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim. 
• The Big Red ranks among the best according to the annual NCAA Division I Academic Progress Report (APR) for 2017-18 that was released this past May. The APR measures semester-by-semester records for every individual team in Division I with regard to each team members’ continuing eligibility, retention and progress toward graduation. The NCAA “commends” teams that have APR scores in the top 10 percent within their sport. Cornell has been recognized 10 times in the 14 years since the APR began, including seven consecutive. 
• The Big Red’s 17-man roster represents 11 states and the District of Columbia. 
• Freshman Jordan Jones’ father Max played in the NFL (Buffalo Bills) and the USFL (Birmingham Stallions), while his uncle Sean Jones played in the NFL with the Los Angeles Raiders, Houston Oilers and Green Bay Packers, winning a Super Bowl title in 1997 with the Packers and twice capturing All-Pro honors. 
• Sophomore Dean Noll helped guide Shawnee HS (N.J.), the alma mater of Cornell head coach Brian Earl, to a state title as a senior, earning MVP honors for the championship game. He broke the school’s single-season scoring record with 737 points - besting the previous mark of 675 set by Dan Earl, Brian’s older brother. 
• Junior Sarju Patel will sit out the 2019-20 season as a transfer after averaging 10.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.9 steals per game at VMI under head coach Dan Earl. 

CAPTAINS 
• A trio of first-year captains will lead the Big Red into the 2019-20 campaign. 
• Senior Josh Warren and juniors Jimmy Boeheim and Terrance McBride will take the leadership mantle. 

NEXT UP 
• The Big Red closes out its first full Ivy League road weekend when it battles defending conference champion Yale on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. at the John J. Lee Amphitheater in New Haven, Conn. 
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+. 
• Yale leads the all-time series 116-110, including 66-45 in New Haven, Conn. 
• The Bulldogs have won 13 consecutive contests against the Big Red dating back to the 2012-13 season.

Photos by Dave Burbank, Madison Epperson, Eldon Lindsay, Patrick Shanahan and Darl Zehr